POLYCHROME WARES
A SUPERB IRON-RED AND GILT-DECORATED 'IMMORTALS' DISH

Details
A SUPERB IRON-RED AND GILT-DECORATED 'IMMORTALS' DISH
ENCIRCLED KANGXI SIX-CHARACTER MARK AND OF THE PERIOD

Very finely painted around the exterior with the Eight Daoist Immortals in a mountainous landscape before crashing waves and scrolling clouds, the interior with a central roundel depicting Shoulao and female attendant accompanied by a deer amid rockwork and billowing clouds overhead, all painted in tones of iron-red, the details picked out in black and green enamels with extensive use of gilt
8 1/8 in. (20.5 cm.) diam., box
Literature
The Tsui Museum of Art, Chinese Ceramics, vol. IV, pl. 125.
Exhibited
Exhibition of Art Treasures from Shanghai and Hong Kong, University Museum and Art Gallery, Hong Kong, 9 November 1996 - 25 January 1997, Catalogue, pl. 52, p. 118.
Gems of Chinese Art, Selections of Chinese Ceramics and Bronzes from the Tsui Art Foundation, Empress Place Museum, Singapore, Catalogue, 1992, pl. 103; Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, July-October 1995.

Lot Essay

The adventures of the Eight Daoist Immortals, Baxian, are described in the story The Eastward Travels of the Genii, and are also found in the play, "The Eight Genii Cross the Sea". They are Cao Guojiu, the patron of actors and the theatre; Han Xiangzi, the patron of musicians; He Xiangu, the patron goddess of the home; Lan Caihe, the patron of gardeners; Li Tieguai, the patron of apothecaries; Lu Dongbin, a philosopher who fights the demons of the world, and is also the patron of barbers; Zhang Guolao, an Imperial official and the patron of painters and calligraphers; and finally Zhongli Quan, the head of the Immortals, is said to possess the Elixir of Life. Bowls or dishes decorated with the Eight Immortals are often depicted with Shoulao, the Star God of Longevity, in the interior roundel.

(US$40,000-50,000)

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